A Canary's Cry
by Revenant-Commander
Summary: <html><head></head>SPOILERS FOR 3x01! The final moments as viewed by the Lance sisters in the stunning end of "The Calm", which was only one of many game-changing moments for the series. What was going through their minds? What did they think of what had happened?</html>


_**Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own Arrow or the larger DC universe. **_

_**A/N: If you've seen Episode 1 of Season 3, you know what this is a look at. If you haven't seen "The Calm", then either turn back now or don't complain about spoilers.**_

_**This is a ONE-SHOT. **_

THE CANARY'S CRY

BY

Revenant-Commander

As Laurel's footsteps faded, heading off the roof via the fire escape, Sara turned back to the view of the city, smiling. Her sister had grown strong again; she still had a hard time thinking of last year, when Laurel had been so lost and, loathe as she was to admit it, weak. If anything, she had emulated _Sara_ in her antics last year, so it was good to see her sister strong again, being focused on helping people the best way she knew how. Much like Sara herself had begun to do, though she did it in a way that neither her sister nor her father, and especially not Oliver, appreciated.

Speaking of Oliver, she had considered bringing him in on the task that had brought her back to Starling City. After all, it would affect the city and therefore him and those he protected. But their brief reunion tonight had shown that they needed to keep taking things slowly. Oliver, in particular, needed to remember that there was more to life than masks and using modern-day renditions of archaic weaponry to mete out justice.

Deciding it was time to get back to work, Sara turned and placed her domino mask back over her eyes, heading towards the edge of the roof. Perhaps she could catch up to Laurel and speak with her sister for a few more moments. "Hello, Sara," a modulated voice said behind her, and she was startled, having not heard a single sound. Turning, she saw the uniform, and confusion took the forefront of her mind. While the League generally wore the same outfits, every assassin brought their own unique element to their uniforms and thus claimed their individual status that way. The uniform wore by the assassin standing near her was recognizable to every League member due to its status within the League.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. Sara's confusion turned to pained surprise and betrayal when the figure shot her with one of the arrows it carried. The black arrow pierced her diagphragm, paralyzing her ability to cry out or speak further, and the following two pierced her pancreas and her appendix, sending the deadly toxins carried in both into her system. This was the way every archer in the League learned to kill, ensuring a quick but painful death to those on the receiving end. Sara could not articulate what she wanted to as she stumbled backward, the question of why the figure had killed her, what she had done to deserve this fate, dying on her tongue as she tripped over the side of the building and disappeared from sight, the figure watching dispassionately.

As she fell, Sara's last remaining thought was that she could not warn her sister, her father, or even Oliver of the danger that now faced their beloved city, a danger they were ill-equipped to face in light of their alliances in the past with the League of Assassins. Then Sara impacted the dumpster, and any remaining thoughts were banished forever, as was the light in her troubled eyes. Sara Lance had lived a troubled and tragic life, and now it had come to an end at the hand of one whom she had trusted.

_**Moments Earlier**_

Laurel Lance smiled to herself, walking with a bit more pep in her step as she headed down the alleyway towards the street of Starling City. The new Count Vertigo was in custody, though he had managed to strike fear in the city's residents during his brief reign; the Arrow was no longer considered a criminal by the SCPD, her sister had come back and with Sara's help Laurel was sure she could keep her father from getting too involved in Oliver's crusade.

As for Oliver himself, he seemed to be caught up in an internal fight of some kind, and Laurel hoped that if neither she or Sara could reach Oliver, then maybe, just maybe, Oliver's friend Felicity could. Laurel wasn't blind; she could see those two thought the world of one another even if they didn't say it out loud. She was happy for Oliver; she knew he had struggled to find someone to connect with when he came back and it seemed that Mr. Diggle and Felicity Smoak were the ones who he had connected with.

A sound above her caused Laurel to look up, and as she did so, her stomach wrenched. Falling from the rooftop, the blonde wig she wore fluttering around her head, was her sister. Even as Laurel stood, frozen in horror, Sara impacted the dumpster and rolled off of it, laying sprawled on her back, the wig shifting off of her head, her domino mask laying several feet away. Laurel stared only a moment at her sister's wide, unseeing eyes and the three black arrows sticking out of her abdomen before screaming out a denial and kneeling, calling her sister's name as she gathered Sara's body up in her arms, already knowing it was too late but hoping that somehow, Sara would breathe in and show some sign of life. But Laurel knew that this was not to be, could see the horrible truth in the blank stare Sara gave the world now. Even at her most troubled, her sister had had a light of some kind in her eyes, a light now extinguished by the black arrows protruding from her.

Laurel knew that there was only one group that used black arrows to mete out justice; the same organization that her sister belonged to, the same organization that had trained Malcolm Merlyn; and as she held her sister's body, Laurel silently vowed she would find a way to bring the League of Assassins and their leader, who had hunted her sister for months the previous year before supposedly allowing her to leave, to justice.

The year before, Laurel had gone through an emotional crucible. What no one, not even Laurel herself, knew at that moment was that this year would be Laurel's physical crucible, the year she would dedicate herself to emulating her fiery younger sister and honoring Sara's memory by taking up her mask and mantle.

The Canary was dead, but the Black Canary would rise from the ashes of the coming year.

_**A/N: Hope everyone liked this. **_


End file.
